In Dickinson's "The Railway Train," there is one item I'd like to discuss more than what the actual poem was about. Something tells me that there was extreme intent by this, and I have no idea why, but nothing rhymes. It has a melodious flow, but the poem doesn't rhyme. Is that because it keeps the reader on their toes? Yes! Wouldn't that actually have a reader focus less on the material? No! Since some of her poems do rhyme, this poem not rhyming does cause a reader to look even more into the material being written and the symbolism behind it, because the reader is not enamored by the rhyme scheme.
As for the poem, I truly love how fast and vicious the train gets. I think that this train represents us as people. The second volume was titled love. So I tried to tie this poem and that together. I think that people are so busy in this particular society, that they might miss what's really important in their lives. The train does stop and all appears to be well. The reference to this train as a wild bronco is really evident, but I can't figure out why she makes that symbolic thought. In the last stanza:
"And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop -- docile and omnipotent --
At its own stable door."
If you can help me out with this one, I would greatly appreciate it.
Posted by The Gentle Giant at October 12, 2005 09:28 AMJay--
I agree with you. I think the poem's meter is intriguing. You'd think that a poem about a train, which has a constant, repetitive motion would be a stronger meter. I have spent a good part of the evening reading Dickinson's poetry for my Paper 1, and I've found that she likes to make you think. A lot of her earlier poems are not nearly as hyphenated and broken as her later ones. This change in her style resulted after her love (he was married...she liked him...kinda like Hester in the Scarlet Letter) left to preach at a different church. I think this was when she become slightly more pessimistic. I found this in a book called Emily Dickinson: An Interpretive Biography.
Posted by: Meredith Harber at October 13, 2005 03:04 AMI think this poem is conveying a message about people, too, and how she really feels about them. I think the rhyme and rythm are off because it gives you the sense of how people are all over the place and vicious at times. I think Emily was pretty religious, so she'd want to hide her gossip about people in another form. I'm not too sure about the lines you wrote in the last stanza.
Posted by: Ashley Holtzer at October 13, 2005 08:10 AMBoth of you make really good points about your analyses of Emily Dickinson. Meredith, I really like your comparison to Hester Prynne about the marriage and how she can compare to Emily Dickinson. I should probably look into that book, as you did, because that is a solid analysis. Ashley, I never really thought about how religious she was. I know that seclusion can really make a person go into a deep thought process (look at Thoreau). Solid observations ladies.
Posted by: Jason Pugh at November 14, 2005 01:28 PMGood observation ladies. I like how Meredith, you brought up the notion that Emily Dickinson can be comparable to Hester Prynne. I can absolutely agree with that except for one thing, Hester Prynne was a made up character, and Emily Dickinson is the real thing. Ashley, I'm really not that sure of how religious Emily Dickinson was, I just know that she was an incredibly deep thinker who basically never left her own town.
Posted by: Jason Pugh at November 14, 2005 01:30 PM